Iris

A Greek goddess once ruled the rainbows and served as a messenger to other gods. Not surprisingly, her name means "rainbow" in Greek and sounds like the word eiris, which means "messenger;" that name is Iris. 

Iris is no longer just an Ancient Greek goddess, though. It has associated itself with a flower since the fourteenth century because of its variety of colors. The eye part got its name for similar reasons.

As a given name, Iris entered occasional use in sixteenth century England. It became common two centuries later. Iris first peaked in early twentieth-century England, ranking in the top 100 from the 1900s to the 1940s. Around the same time, Iris was popular in New Zealand. By the 1950s, Iris was declining in both nations. 

Iris has seen similar usage in the United States, where it has ranked every year since 1880. However, Iris barely made the top 200 during its 1920s and 1930s peak. It also never fell out of use completely, hitting its low point in the 400s from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Everything changed after the turn of the twenty-first century; Iris began rising again in both England and the United States. It returned to the English top 100 in 2016. Six years later, Iris entered the American top 100 for the first time. Americans' current taste for vintage, mythological, colorful, natural, and international names made Iris more popular than ever before.

Iris is used in several languages. These include Belgian, Brazilian, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish, and Swiss. Since Iris has also ranked in the top 500 most years, some might consider the international name timeless. However, Iris has only become a common name in the nineteenth century; that is not enough history to give the name classic status.

Many people would attribute Iris's revival to the "one hundred-year rule." However, a name also needs the right ingredients to make a revival; Iris feels distinct, vowel-forward, and is a Greek goddess, flower, and eye part combined. For these reasons, Iris came back stronger than ever before.

STYLES:

Mythological, Natural, Vintage

SISTERS:

Ada, Cora, Daphne, Hazel, June, Maeve, Ruby, Thea, Violet, Willa

BROTHERS:

August, Ezra, Grady, Hugo, Jasper, Levi, Miles, Ray, Theo, Wyatt

ALTERNATIVES:

Avis, Ceres, Flora, Ida, Ione, Lotus, Mavis, Myra, Opal, Rhea

FURTHER RESOURCES:

"Iris." Names, Behind the Name, 9 Jun. 2023, https://www.behindthename.com/name/iris. 

"Iris." Names, Nameberry, 2023, https://nameberry.com/babyname/iris. 

Nickerson, Eleanor. "Iris." Names of the Week, British Baby Names, 31 May 2014, https://www.britishbabynames.com/blog/2014/05/iris.html. 

What do you think about Iris?